Group,
My customer builds vehicular laptop and tablet docking stations intended
for hard mounted use within emergency vehicles such as police and
ambulance, as well as work trucks and forklifts. The vehicular power
supply narrowly missed CISPR 22 radiated Class B limits. Then their AU
Responsible Party told us they called the ACMA and they "insisted" this is
a Class B device. I then sent my own request to ACMA and received the
reply below.
In my opinion the ACMA individual is clearly biased toward the Class B
rating, but the fact that he leaves the door open to the Class A rating is
enough proof for me that he agrees that it is a Class A device. However,
my customer is looking for safety in numbers. The author raises a valid
note of caution concerning receivers within vehicles, but these systems
are already compliant with CISPR 25 and are widely used within North
America and Europe with no interference problems so we're not concerned
with that warning.
I would appreciate it if some of you would review this information and
provide your professional opinion as to whether vehicle mounted ITE
qualifies as Class A or Class B:
+++++++++++++++
Dear Mr Newton
Clause 4.1 of AS/NZS CISPR 22 (which is identical to CISPR 22, Ed. 6.0
(2008)) includes the following;
Class B ITE is intended primarily for use in the domestic environment and
may include:
- Personal computers and auxiliary equipment.
Note: The domestic environment is an environment where the use of
broadcast and television receivers may be expected within distances of 10
m of the apparatus concerned.
Given that the class B limits apply to “personal computers” (which would
also include “tablets”) it would seem logical that your mounting stations
“for computers and tablets” (which I would think fall within the
definition of “auxiliary equipment”) should comply with the same limits as
the devices they are intended to hold.
I would also think that, because police and ambulance vehicles will
probably have a broadcast (AM/FM) receiver installed in them this would
probably constitute a “domestic environment”. I would also question
whether it would be prudent to have a device meeting the class A limits
installed in a vehicle that relies heavily on two-way radiocommunications
equipment where said device may interfere with the operation of this
on-board radiocommunications equipment.
Having said that, clause 4.2 of AS/NZS CISPR 22 includes the following;
Class A ITE is a category of all other ITE which satisfies the class A ITE
limits but not the class B ITE limits. Such equipment should not be
restricted in its sale but the following warning shall be included in the
instructions for use:
Warning
This is a class A product. In a domestic environment this product may
cause radio interference in which case the user may be required to take
adequate measures.
It is up to you whether you wish to comply with the class A or the class B
limits however, I would personally err on the side of caution – if an
ambulance or a police car were unable use its radiocommunications
equipment and it turned out it was due to interference from your device
the legal ramifications could be costly.
Regards
XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX
Technical Regulation Development Section
Australian Communications & Media Authority
++++++++++++++++++++++
Thanks group,
Carl
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